Semirara Coal Auction to Proceed Amid Data-Sharing Dispute

THE Department of Energy (DoE) plans to go ahead with the auction for the Semirara Island coal mine, even after the incumbent concession holder asked the courts to not compel it to share proprietary data. “Within the month, we will announce something. We still have to deliberate on this. We will decide how the evaluation will be carried out,” Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin told reporters last week. Ms. Garin said the auction is on hold as the government is still trying to determine how to handle brownfield projects such as the Semirara mine site, which has been operated by Consunji-controlled Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) for nearly 50 years. She said the DoE is consulting other agencies such as the departments of Finance, Economy, Planning, and Development, and Environment and Natural Resources to create proper guidelines. “It involves an old contract — an existing, proven project. The DoE currently has rules for new, or greenfield, projects. However, for brownfield projects, we are still figuring things out,” she said. The DoE has pushed back the submission and opening of bid documents for the coal auction that was supposed to take place on April 28, citing the need to fully addressed concerns raised by stakeholders. Launched in February, the bid round is offering three coal areas, which is estimated to hold around 207 million metric tons of coal reserves. The auction covers the Semirara blocks in Antique, the flagship asset of SMPC, making it the country’s largest coal producer. The company’s coal operating contract is set for auction this year after it failed to secure renewal. SMPC has sought court protection to stop the DoE from requiring it to share detailed asset and propriety information with bidders for the Semirara mine. “The bidding is supposed to choose a winner that has a viable mine plan and knows how to run one to make sure coal production is seamless to protect the country’s baseload electricity generation. It is not about SMPC and how it runs the mine,” the company said in a statement last week. Despite the petition, Ms. Garin affirmed that the bidding will not be affected, saying “we have enough information to bid out the project.” — Sheldeen Joy Talavera